STORY EXCERPT

“My son is a broken man. He needs more than quiet to recover, to find himself again. I want you to watch out for him, make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. He’s never been a drinker or drug user, but he’s never had to deal with the crap he’s dealing with now. I want him taken care of. See to it.” The connection ended then, the emotionally-charged voice cut off.

Jax stared at his phone for a moment before shoving it in his pocket. “It was bad enough we’ve become a babysitter to a pop star. Now we have to be psychologists, too?” he asked, and then relayed what their client’s father had said.

Broad shoulders shrugged. “For the amount of money we’re being paid, we can powder his ass and diaper him.”

“But it’s Lucien who’s paying, not his father.”

Lang looked at Jax and nodded in agreement. “You’re right. We’ll see how it goes.” He looked around at the ultramodern house. “Sure beats that apartment of ours.”

Nodding, Jax walked around the end of the long, modern sofa to the wall of glass separating them from the wilderness outside. The house was surrounded by trees on all sides, though not all were close. There was a cleared area on three sides, a lawn-like area covered by moss rather than grass. To the rear of the house was a wall of rock. It was raw, rugged, and appealed to him.

If it was peace and quiet and nature the guy wanted he was going to get an abundance of it. Jax and Lang had been in the area long enough to know that walking out the door could get real interesting. They were in a prime area for large wildlife. Brown and black bears, mountain lions, wolves, coyote, elk…the list was long and varied. But they were here to protect their client from the two-legged variety of animal. They would throw in protection from four-legged predators for free.

It was a beautiful location, both untamed and remote. Just the drive to Silver was over an hour. If they needed emergency help they were screwed. They only hoped that their new client wasn’t suicidal.

Jax and Lang were working for their friend Jace Hunter, who owned a security company in Silver. They had been working smaller, less demanding jobs the past few months. The pay was good. They had few complaints. But they were little more than paid watchdogs. Until now the jobs had been basic security, watching a house and wealthy clients while they were on vacation. There had been a few celebrities who had their own bodyguards. Jax and Lang had been added on because they were familiar with the area.

Their current client, Lucien St. James, pop star, megacelebrity, had fired his own security guards. He had also closed up his houses in LA and NYC because of privacy leaks. Videos had been made and posted on the Internet, security breached both in his homes and on the road as he traveled to and from concerts. Though Jax hadn’t seen it, there was one in particular which had triggered Lucien’s retreat. He was now in new, neutral territory, shed of his former life and the people attached to it.

“Do you think he’ll mind that we share a room? Probably should ask,” Lang suggested.

Jonathan Lang was the good guy in their partnership, both professionally and personally. Jax was what people called a badass and he lived up to his rep. Snorting, he turned away from the view to look at the man he loved above all others. If he had a soft spot, it was the one deep inside of him where he held what he felt for Lang close to his heart. Lang, however, was the only one to know about it. Outsiders likely guessed it was just about sex between them. He didn’t care what others thought.

“He can either accept it or call Jace to see if Levi and Connor want to come up here to babysit.”

Levi Daniels and Connor Murdock were men they had met while touring in Iraq. They had also met Jace and Caleb Hunter, as well as Ben Lofton and Cross Wilmington. Ben and Cross were now in a relationship with a man named Angel Salazar. It seemed to be working out very well for the three of them. They were always giving each other goofy looks, which could be downright nauseating at times.

They were a group of men who had seen a lot of action, had suffered the loss of friends, and had suffered, period. No man or woman could go to war, to fight and defend, without being changed.

Jax actually liked this private hideaway. Noise was a big thing for him. Loud ones in particular startled him, often bringing back unpleasant memories. Then there was the waiting at stoplights thing. Just having to sit there and wait for a light to change was enough to make him feel like he was about to crawl out of his skin. He still felt like a target, waiting for a bullet or bomb to end his life. Though he carried a very powerful pistol, and had a large caliber semiautomatic rifle at his disposal, he preferred other methods to neutralize a situation. Anything was better to avoid the loud explosion of sound shattering the world around him.

Since their client seemed to be holed up for the time being, having done little more than open the door for them before he disappeared, Jax decided it was time they went out to take a look around and to familiarize themselves with the terrain. It was rugged, true, but it wouldn’t be impossible for someone to come in from a point other than the long lane.

ADULT EXCERPT

Once the door closed behind them Jax turned into another person. There was a very subtle softening to the hard features. Jax’s face was all hard angles, from his high cheekbones and bladelike nose to the square jaw covered with dark stubble, giving him an even more dangerous appearance. But Lang knew Jax loved him, even if he very rarely said the words. It was there. He could see it when they were alone like this.

Reaching for Jax as Jax reached for Lang, their bodies collided. Strong arms wrapped around hard bodies. Lang moaned as their mouths locked. Long fingers caught the ends of his closely cropped hair, pulling enough to make his scalp sting. Their tongues stroked and dueled, tangling as they rubbed their aching cocks against one another. The passion flaring between them had a life of its own.

Jax was a very aggressive lover. It had taken some time to get him to stop ripping his shirts off his body. Lang caught the hands tugging at his T-shirt. Even as the man’s eagerness turned him up to high, he helped get his shirt out of the waistband of his jeans. He undid his belt and undid his zipper. A large hand shoved between his underwear and groin to wrap around his cock. The turgid flesh pulsed, pre-cum leaking as Lang moaned again into Jax’s mouth.

The fierce possessiveness of his lover never failed to excite Lang. His shirt slid up his body and was yanked over his head. He smiled as he realized another shirt had survived. Then Jax was capturing his attention once again as his fingers found his right nipple and began playing roughly with it. After a few equally rough strokes to his aching cock it was released, only to be replaced in Jax’s hand by his left ass cheek.

Coming up for air, Lang gasped it in, his body shuddering as his flesh was gripped tightly. His own hands began pulling on Jax’s shirt. He worked it free from his lover’s waistband before shoving it upward. His palms stroked upward over hair-roughened skin. Though Jax wasn’t exactly as hairy as a bear, he had a pleasing amount of crisp black hair to satisfy Lang’s need to play in it with his fingers. He bent his head and dragged his tongue over it until he found the pebbled nub of Jax’s nipple. The tip of his tongue teased it. The edges of his teeth nipped at it. Jax was a tough boy and often liked it a little rough, if not painful. Lang always aimed to please his lover. Tugging on the nipple with his teeth, he didn’t release it until he felt the powerful shudder rack the body he held in his arms.

The hand on his ass tightened and pulled. The blunt tip of a finger traced the pucker of his asshole. He clenched instinctively. He hadn’t been able to overcome the reflex in all the time they had been lovers. Lang grunted as a finger was pushed into the tight rosette of muscle then moaned as Jax began to bite and lick the side of his neck.

When he was moved back toward the bed Lang knew it wouldn’t be long before Jax claimed him. It was the only way to describe Jax’s style of lovemaking.

Once he was on the bed Jax first stripped off Lang’s clothes before he removed his own. Then he was crawling up the bed, over Lang’s body, his intent clear on his handsome face. Their cocks rubbed together, teasing. With his blood hot in his veins, Lang was ready to beg Jax to fuck him. Staring up at his man he tried to guess what was going on behind those hooded eyes. There were always surprises. Being in bed with Jax was never boring. He never knew what was going to happen, how he would be taken. He happily gave everything over to the other man.

Jax aligned his big, powerful body with Lang’s, and a thickly muscled thigh wedged between his, pushing up until Lang’s balls were being pressed close to his body. Their cocks were trapped between their bodies, hard, aching flesh ready to deliver copious amounts of hot cum.

Lang didn’t know how much longer he could last. Jax was pushing him to the edge.

“Are you ready for me to fuck you?” The question, like everything else, was rough. Jax was braced on his arms, staring down at Lang with dark brown eyes. They were intense and filled with heat.

Nodding, Lang waited breathlessly. Though they were equal in physical strength, he welcomed the other man’s dominance over him. His hands slid down over the muscles along Jax’s ribs, as the other man reached for the lube and condom he had tucked under the pillow earlier. Jax leaned back after he handed the condom to Lang. He opened the foil pack and tossed it aside. Then he was rolling the latex sheath down the length of the man’s impressive cock.